How to set up Google Authenticator (Two-Factor Authentication) on Coinbase Crypto Exchange

Now, something that all these exchanges use – all the ones that I've signed up for They use two-factor authentication and what that is, is just an extra layer of security saying that, you know, I've verified my email address But they want another way to prove it's actually me logging in, so no one else can log into the account and steal all my money

So, they use two-factor authentication – also you see '2FA' – that's what it means The most popular one of these is 'Google Authenticator' It's a separate app So, if I'm on the 'security' page here, I can see where I can verify my phone number – so if you want to do that later, or you have to do it later, just go from the dashboard – you just go to 'Settings' here, and then you go to 'Security', and then there's the place where you can put in your phone number So, if I go down – "Your 2 factor method is: None" "Your account is not protected by two-step verification!" "Enable an Authenticator, or add a phone number to get started" so I'm going to enable an Authenticator

This is the screen that comes up next Now, this thing that you see here is a 'QR Code' Basically, there are devices which scan this, and they will link this with your device

So, the first thing I'm going to do, is I'm going to go to the Play Store – I've basically – have an Android phone And you go to the Play Store, and you can download Let me find it There we are – go to the 'Play Store', and I'm going to search for 'Google Authenticator' – you can find it anywhere

Google Authenticator, very simple to do, really easy to find Here it is So, all you see is this – 'Google Authenticator', and you can uninstall or open it

I'm going to open it Now, I've already installed this because I've signed up to lots of other exchanges I just wanted to show you where to get it So, here on my Google Authenticator, you can see some of the other things that I've signed up for At the bottom here, on the right, there's like a little red circle with a button on it I'm going to press that, ok What it does – you see "Scan a barcode", and "Enter a provided key" So, I'm going to pick the first one – "scan a barcode", and what happens when I do that is – this pops up

Now, this is a little screen where it's obviously got, like – a target And all you have to do is, you have to put this QR code – this one here – you have to put that into the target So I'm going to do that now The second you do, it saves it – it saves it on your phone And now, Coinbase – there it is at the bottom Coinbase social trading vlog at gmail

com So, what that is, is it's basically – that little code – those six digits that you see, you see on the right there It's – there's like a little timer counting down

You can see the circle getting smaller and smaller When that goes down, the code will change So, each code stays there for a limited amount of time

So now, here – on the thing, it says "Enter the 2-step verification code provided by your authentication app" So, at the bottom, I see the 'Coinbase' one – right at the bottom, and I go 909 161 I put that in, enable

and boom, that's it – it's linked it So, I have lots of different authenticators for different exchanges in my one Google Authenticator app So that's where you'll find them all basically, and I've got different email accounts, and different things

So there we are, that's how you get Google Authenticator It's really simple to use – just scan the QR code, scan what's on the actual screen It will link them, and from then on, you're going to use that Google Authenticator when you make payments, when you take money out of the exchange, when you want to transfer it – it's a very useful second layer of help really – of security So, "Your two factor method is: Authenticator" And it's done "Require verification code to send any amount of digital currency

" So that's it – that's the most secure way It means that any amount of digital currency I want to send through Coinbase, it's going to make sure that the code on there matches me So, I type it in – the code that I see at the time on that And it will know that it's me actually doing it – or whoever's got my phone, but me, hopefully, doing it So I'm going to save that Okay – and it's asking me to do it again So all I do is – I go to my app again I'll find it 'Google Authenticator' – I go to the bottom, there's my Coinbase one, and I put that in

So, any time I want to make changes – if I want to save something in the settings, it will ask me to do it I've verified boom That's it Okay, 291 967 – now if you get this wrong, and it changes whilst you're doing it, don't worry, it'll be fine Hold on Hold on, I'm going to wait till it changes 010 101 Okay, we're good – okay, so a bit more about the security of this

Basically it uses a thing called the TOTP – that's how the Google Authenticator works It means time-based one-time password So, every 30 seconds, when that little circle sort of goes down, that's a brand new code

Those six digits – that's a new code That's why I'm showing them on the video, because you can't, like, use them again People can't use those again One thing I did want to show you – remember that screen where I was actually putting in the QR code? So, what that QR code is – if you look, the QR code is actually – this here It creates a secret authentication key, alright – that's your secret key Now, that is up here at the top, where I'm putting the arrow, yeah I've blocked it out, obviously, because I don't want people to see it But that key – if you ever – if something goes wrong, or your phone gets stolen, or you lose it, you're going to need that key again to, sort of, reestablish your Authenticator So that key, when you see it, you should write it down – write it down on a piece of paper, and keep it somewhere safe, offline because you might need it again to login, okay, so keep that The QR code over here, which I've also blurred out All that is, is it's a visual representation of that secret key, okay

So, you remember when I put the – when I clicked it – when I used the Authenticator app and scanned that QR code, on the app you actually saw "Secret saved" Alright, so, all it's done, when I scan that little QR code, it reads the secret key, puts it in, and it links my device to the Authenticator So, write down that secret code – keep it safe That's kind of your backup way in, should something go wrong, okay If you want to find out more about the google authenticator, you can go here, to the – just to google play, and there's their page

and you can read about how the authenticator works, what TOTP is You can also look that up here – on Wikipedia 'Time-based one-time password algorithm' That's basically what it's using, and all this does, really, is it replaces SMS's So, instead of Coinbase having you to send you an SMS, and you verify the code in the SMS, once you use Google Authenticator, the SMS's will stop, and from now on, you'll be using Google Authenticator They use it on a wide range of services now – secure services around the internet, you know, because there's a lot of data leaks, and a lot of – you know

So, they're just trying to make it more secure Alright, so that's it about the Google Authenticator – that's how you set it up, and how you start it with Coinbase Next thing – next video, will be how we actually buy the Bitcoin from Coinbase

So yeah, another step on the little journey There we go – thanks for watching

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